Ensign
by January in June
Summary: Ensign Riley opened her eyes dramatically and stared unseeingly at Geordi. Her blue eyes were almost obscured by black pupils, unnaturally large. “The Romulans are coming,” she said.


A sudden clatter caused Geordi to look up. "Ensign?"

The newest hire had dropped her clipboard over the railing and was leaning over, trying to retrieve it. Or was she? Her posture was limp, her knees were trembling, and her body temperature suddenly dropped. Geordi recognized that she was about to faint and made a move to catch her.

Data got there first, catching the girl first by the arm and then gently lowering her to the ground.

"Medical emergency to engineering," Geordi shouted into his comlink.

The ensign, Ensign Riley, was shaking so badly that Geordi found a cap disk to stick between her teeth, to keep her from biting off her tongue. "She's seizing. Data, what's her heart rate?"

Data put a finger to her bare wrist, "It's…" he started to say, but then stopped, puzzled. As he touched her, her violent spasms slowed to a gentle trembling. "She's… speaking Romulan," he said, bewildered.

"What?" Geordi couldn't hear anything.

Ensign Riley opened her eyes dramatically, spat out the disk and stared unseeingly at Geordi. Her blue eyes were almost obscured by black pupils, unnaturally large. "The Romulans are coming," she said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dr. Polaski shut the tricorder. "I don't see anything that would trigger a seizure. Neural activity is normal, your electrolytes are perfectly balanced, and there's no sign of any brainwave abnormalities. Do you have any Betazed ancestry?"

"No," Ensign Riley said. "I had a great grandmother who was Ithican, but other than that I'm all human."

"Hmm. If you don't mind, I'd like to keep you overnight. We'll run an EKG while you sleep."

"And that will tell you what's wrong?"

"Hopefully." Dr. Polaski gave her a reassuring smile and attached an electrode behind her ear. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"Just sleep, I think, I'm tired."

"You know where the replicator is. Call if you need anything else." Dr. Polaski left the ensign to sleep it off.

Geordi was waiting outside. Dr. Polaski shrugged. "Geordi, I don't know what the problem is. Sometimes these things just happen. Stress, lack of sleep… sometimes the warp coil can make people dizzy."

Geordi shook his head. "Dr, I've seen people get warp coil silly, this was a seizure. And it stopped the minute Data touched her. I don't like it."

Dr. Polaski put a hand on Geordi's shoulder. "She'll be fine, she's…" A siren began to sound in the sick bay. Dr. Polaski turned on her heel and ran back, following the alarm to Ensign Riley's bed. She was convulsing, and thick foam of saliva pulsing between her lips. Nurses arrived at a run, and Polaski injected her with an anti-seizure serum. It did nothing, and the nurses fought to keep her airways open. Geordi, hovering fearfully at the back of sick bay, glanced up at the EKG monitor. Something was strange about the brainwaves. They were fluctuating rhythmically, almost like a …

"Oh, my God," Geordi said. "That's an interstellar radio wave."

The radio wave broke off suddenly, end of transmission. Ensign Riley immediately stopped seizing. Dr. Polaski looked up at Geordi, at a loss.

Geordi hit his communicator. "Captain," he said. "I need to see you in sick bay, immediately."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dr. Polaski sedated Ensign Riley in another room. Picard, Worf, and Geordi stood before the EKG machine, playing the recording over and over again, with an audio converter synched in. The Romulan voice boomed out of the machine, describing the latest plans for an attack across the neutral zone. Picard listened with a grim face, and Polaski joined them, equally grim.

Picard ran a hand over his mouth. "Geordi, I want a copy of this transmission sent to Starfleet immediately."

"Aye, captain."

"Doctor, how is the ensign?"

"She's stable, for now, captain. But another seizure could permanently damage her. I want her beamed out of here, immediately."

Worf cleared his throat. "She is an invaluable asset."

Polaski set her face in a scowl. "Are you suggesting we risk her life so we can spy on the enemy?"

"She would be able to save many, many lives." Worf had a scowl to rival Polaski's. "Any true soldier would gladly make that sacri-"

"She's not a soldier, she's a child," Dr. Polaski snapped.

"Enough," Picard turned to the doctor. "Do we know why she is the only one seizing? These transmissions must be passing through all of us."

"I don't know," Polaski said. "There's nothing unusual about her."

"Figure it out, doctor. I'm afraid I agree with Worf, we're going to need her help."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An exhausted Dr. Polaski tapped her communicator. "It's her DNA, Captain. It's perfectly symmetrical."

"Symmetrical?"

"She's one big palindrome from beginning to end. It's beyond remarkable. The chances are… one in a googleplex. The result is that every cell in her body is a tiny radio receiver, and the vibrations are tearing her apart. The good news is I'll be able to fix it in a moment – a small change to her DNA and she won't vibrate anymore. I'll need her permission, of course, but -"

Picard cut her off. "I'm coming to talk to her."

Picard and Troy entered sick bay, and Ensign Riley looked up. She stiffened and tried to salute, but her fingers trembled. "At ease, ensign," Picard said gently. "This is Counselor Troy."

"Hello, Ensign Riley. Or do you prefer Justine?"

"Justine, please," she whispered, looking down.

"Has Dr. Polaski explained your situation to you?"

"Yes."

Picard spoke up. "No one will force you to remain the way you are. You are in danger of seizing every time the Romulans send a communication. You have already saved countless lives by giving us advance warning. But I cannot deny that your continued information would be invaluable."

"You're frightened," Troy said gently.

"Of course I'm frightened!" Justine snapped. "It nearly killed me the last time and - " her voice broke. "I don't want to die."

"No one will force you, Justine." Troy took her hands. "We can call in Dr. Polaski right now."

"No." Justine jerked her hands back, and wiped her nose with the back of one hand. "No, I'm Starfleet and I won't … let…" her bottom lip trembled. "My sister is on the _Illiad_." She named a battleship on the front lines.

"You won't do this alone," Troy said, and drew her into an embrace. Troy met the Captain's eyes over Justine's head. There was a dark premonition in them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Justine was confined to sick bay. She had two more seizures the following day, and three the day after that, each yielding a more and more detailed picture of the massive army looming, cloaked, over the neutral zone. Starfleet was hard pressed to match the numbers without arousing suspicion, and there was a brief skirmish with a few pirate traders who felt that they were the reason for the increase in battleships.

And then, on the third day, she had one final seizure, and her brainwaves spoke of the attack, only hours away.

Picard sent the saucer section away, and had Justine brought to the bridge with an impressive retinue of doctors, Polaski voicing her displeasure to an unhearing Captain. With Justine as comfortable as possible, her EKG already transmitting to all of Starfleet, they waited on the bridge for the attack to come.

Justine began to shake, and the battle began. The Romulan commander's voice boomed through the bridge, and Starfleet, prepared for the assault, made short work of their battleships, maneuvering around them easily, anticipating every move.

Justine gave a little cry as the radio transmission increased, frantically. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fought for air. Her EKG waves began to slow… the volume of the radio transmissions starting to dim. Her heart rate dropped.

"Captain, I have to change her, now!" Polaski begged. Justine gave a strangled moan.

Data turned around. He was struck by the memory of taking Justine's pulse, and how her seizure had calmed beneath his touch. He bounded to her side and grabbed her wrist. Justine suddenly could breathe, and her limbs stopped quaking. She grabbed for Data, and he caught her by her other wrist.

"This… is… better…" Justine gasped. The battle continued around them. Justine trembled as Data pulled her closer, hugging her tight against his chest. There was a sudden, blinding flash of light through the view screen as the last Romulan ship was destroyed. The crew cheered. Justine slumped against Data, relieved at the sudden lack of Romulan transmissions. Data's arm around her shoulders was firm, cool, comforting. She let her head rest against him for a moment, but then Dr. Polaski was pulling her away.

As she was tugged away from him, Data could see her nose was bleeding. He looked down at his tunic, and saw it stained with her blood. The bridge, quiet after the first cheer, looked to Polaski and her paitient. "I feel… pretty good," Justine insisted quietly, but then Dr. Polaski sedated her and imperiously demanded she be taken to sick bay.

Data turned to Geordi. "I believe I may be another solution."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What is it?" Justine asked as Dr. Polaski, as she strapped on the odd looking wristband.

"Data's idea, actually. It turns out that his internal processors are just as symmetrical as your DNA, but without any organic compounds that transmit vibrations. This will absorb any Romulan radio waves, and feed them directly into the ship's computer. You won't seize again."

Justine turned to Data. "Thank you. It's very generous."

"This gift does not preclude me from normal operating functions," Data said.

"May I ask," Justine blushed. "What part of you is this?"

"My left little toe. I am easily able to correct for the imbalance."

"Thank you, Data."

"You're welcome."

Justine stood up from the sick bay table and walked into the hallway with Data. "You know, it's so strange. I've only been here three weeks, and I've already spied on the Romulans, had the Captain ask me to save us all, bled all over the bridge, and been saved by an android's little toe."

Data glanced at her. "Welcome to the Enterprise."


End file.
